I am a little excited about this recipe. It is not my idea, although I have altered it to suite my taste and what I had in my pantry. The idea comes from one of my favourite people on YouTube “Jess Beautician”. Although she has a beauty based channel, Jess is also plant based and has the most amazing “What I Eat in a Day” videos. She actually films the cooking process for you as well which I think is great because you get a little cooking show while your watching her stuff. I am adding the link to the particular video where she makes this bread here so you can watch the process, but I will of course add my full version in the little recipe box below. The bread probably resembles more of a cracker in appearance, but the texture is soft and spongy. I believe is resembles a dense multi grain bread more so than a cracker or biscuit so I have called it “bread”. It can of course be used as a cracker as well.

So I love bread and thankfully I do not have any issues digesting it. Good quality whole grain bread, grains and starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn form the basis of my diet and I add all the other good stuff on top of that. However, I have so many friends that have issues eating or digesting bread. Even people that do not have gluten intolerance problems can often feel bloated after eating bread. Processed white bread is not good for anyone even if you can digest it, but I find that so many people have damaged their intestinal tracts to such an extent that even good quality wholegrain breads or just grains in general can upset them.

This is a nourishing, protein packed alternative for people that have issues with gluten or grains. It’s also a great option for me since it helps me get lots of healthy seeds into my diet. The bread uses a mixture of different seeds. You can play around with different seeds and different proportions as long you do not omit the chia seeds and do not add any flax/linseeds. Linseeds will act in the same way as chia seeds and absorb the water so you do not want to add them as the mixture will be much too wet and gooey if you do. You can also add various herbs and spices to your bread or even add some vanilla or cinnamon for a sweeter version. I am just sharing a very basic version today and you can take it from there. Honestly I prefer the basic version because then I can be more creative with the toppings but adjust the flavour to what suits you! The bread is very rich in protein and healthy fats so I find it very filling. I can only eat about one slice at a time.

The best thing about this bread is that once you have cut it up you can freeze it. It lasts for a very long time in the freezer and all you need to do is pop it in the toaster whenever you want a piece and it heats straight through. No need to defrost. Hope you enjoy the recipe. It is very easy to make and if you do struggle with digesting bread and miss bread in your life, I hope this will be a good alternative for you.

Add the oat or buckwheat flour and all the seeds and salt to a large bowl and mix well. You can make your own oat flour by processing some rolled oats in a food processor until they form a rough flour.

Add 1 cup of water to the mixture and mix through. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes until the chia seeds have absorbed all the water and a spongy jelly texture forms

Flatten the mixture on to a lined baking tray to 1cm thickness. Try to get the edges as square and straight as possible.

Bake at 180 C for 20 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before cutting the bread into square "slices"

You can store the bread in the fridge for a couple of weeks or freeze your slices in a zip lock bag in the freezer and toast the slices before serving. They will last a very long time when frozen.